Day and night sight for firearms



April 4, 1944.

c. B. FERREL 2,345,801

DAY AND NIGHT SIGHT FOR FIREARMS Filed July 6, 1942 1m ENTOR. CL vos B.FERRE/ BY @f1/:f1 m TTOENEYS Patented Apr. 4, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENTGFFICE This invention relates to a day and night sight for fire armssuch as rifles, machine guns and the like, and especially to a sight inwhich the front bead and the rear notch or crosshair are made visible bythe combined action of radio active salts and ultra. violet rays,

The object of the invention is generally to improve and simplify theconstruction and operation of sights, such as used on rifles, machineguns and other fire arms; to provide a gun or rifle sight in which thefront bead and the rear notch or cross hair are provided with areas towhich radio-active salts are applied; and further, to provide a seriesof lenses made from Lucite or a material having similar properties,whereby ultra violet rays are gathered, concentrated and projectedagainst the radio active salts to activate and render the bead and crosshairs visible.

The sight is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawing inwhich:

Figure 1 is the central, vertical, longitudinal section of the rearsight showing it in horizontal or folded position.

Figure 2 is the cross section taken on line 2 2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view of the rear sight looking in the direction ofarrow b. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 4 is the perspective view of that portion of the rear sight whichcarries the graduated glass plate 3| and the Lucite bars 4I and 42.

Figure 5 is the perspective view of the graduated glass plate.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the Lucite bars and the lug and crossbar connecting the same.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the washer used in conjunction withthe rear sight.

Figure 8 is the perspective view of the base portion of the rear sight.

The rear sight is best shown in Figures 1 to 8 inclusive. It consists ofa plate I5 (see Figure 8) which is rounded at the front end andperforated as at l 6 to form a pivotal point. The rear end of the plateis provided with a hinge lug Il and a rounded front end iiange I8 andside flanges I9 are provided. The plate I5 is cut on opposite sides atthe points 20-20 and 2I-2I to form spring leaves 22 and 23. The leaf 23is bent upwardly so that when a bolt 24 (see Figure 1) is passed throughthe perforation I6 and a washer 25 sufficient friction will resultnormally to maintain plate I5 from swinging about the pivot. The leaf 22permits the hinge lug |'l to yield under certain conditions as willhereinafter be described.

Extending through the hinge lug Il is a pin 26 and pivoted on the pin toswing from a horizontal to a vertical position is the rear sight properwhich is best illustrated in `Figures 1 and 4. It consists of a plate21. having a central longitudinally extending slot 28 formed therein.The plate is rounded at the front end and a downwardly extending flange28 is formed on the plate which extends around the rounded end and alongboth sides. A groove 30 is formed in the inner face of each side ilangeto receive and support a graduated glass plate 3| (see Figure 5) and ahinge lug 32 is formed at the rear end of each side flange through whichthe pin 26 extends to permit the rear sight to be swung from ahorizontal to a vertical position.

The plate 3| is made of glass and ten graduations are made in the uppersurface of the glass on one side of a slot 3Ia while nine graduationsare made in the opposite side. The entire upper surface of the glass isground with the exception of the graduations which are clear. The lowersurface of the glass, directly under the graduations, is coated withradio-active salts and when activated projects suflicient light throughthe graduations to render them visible. The graduations may be coatedwith a dye ranging from blue and violet to green and red. Thegraduations on one side of the plate commence with a graduation whichreads yards, the next will be 200 yards and so on up to 600 yards whilethe graduations on the opposite side will commence with a reading ofyards and end at 575 yards. The graduations and their markings arereadable in daylight but not at night; hence, by coloring thegraduations commencing with blue for the shortest ranges and red for thelongest ranges, and with violet and green for the intermediate ranges, aperson equipped with a sight of this character, will soon becomesufllciently familiar with the color indications to choose the properrange when shooting.

The radio-active salts, coating the lower surface of the graduated glassplate are activated by ultra violet rays as a plate of Lucte (seeFigures 1 and 6) is placed under the glass plate 3 I. 'Ihe plate has alongitudinally extending slot formed therein which registers with theslot in the glass plate; the slot divides the Lucite plate into two bars4I and 42 connected at the front ends by a rounded lug 43 and at theirrear ends by a cross-bar 44. The rounded lug 43 is supported by aninturned flange 29a forming a part of the rounded end 29 of the rearsight. The outer sides of the bars 4| and -42 are slightly chamfered andso are the lower portions of the side flanges of the rear sight asindicated at 29b (see Figure 2). The connected bars 4| and 42 are thussupported throughout their length and at one end by the end and sideflanges of the rear sight and in substantial contact with the glassplate 3| which carries the radio-active salts on its lower surface andthe range graduations on the upper or opposite surface and in order thatthe radio active salts shall be sufficiently activated to render thegraduations visible, V shaped projections 4B and 41 are formed on thebars 4| and 42. These V shaped projections align with the graduations inthe glass plate and they function to gather, concentrate and projectultra violet rays on the radio active salts in suflicient amount torender the graduations visible.

In actual practice the plate l5 shown in Figure 8 serves as a base orsupport for the rear sight, the main portion of which is shown in Figure4. The plate I5 is pivotally secured by means of screw 24 in Figure 1 toa plate 50 which is rigidly `secured to or may form a part of the gunbarrel. The plate |5 and the rear sight which is pivotally secured toplate I5 by pin 26 and the hinge lugs and 32 may be swung about thescrew 24 as a pivot and this permits the rear end of the sight to beswung to one side or the other of the longitudinal axis of the gunbarrel to allow for windage or for any drift of a pro- J'ectile orbullet due to a cross-wind. The end of plate 50 is graduated on eachside of a center line 5| as indicated at 52 in Figure 9 so that thesight may be adjusted to one side or the other depending upon directionand velocity of the cross-wind and the range of the target.

If shooting with a rifle at close range, for instance 100 yards, therear sight will assume the folded horizontal position shown in Figure 1and a groove or line 54 containing visible radio-active salts will serveas the rear notch of the sight and the front bead will have to bealigned therewith in the usual manner when aiming and shooting the rie.On the other hand if the range is more than 100 yards the rear sightwill be grasped by the front rounded end 29 and swing about the pin 2Bto assume the vertical dotted line position shown in Figure 1. In thisposition the front bead can be seen through the slits 28 and 40 and willthen be lined up with the target and one of the graduation lines in theglass plate; for instance if the range of the target is estimated to be30() yards, the front bead will be lined up with the 300 yard mark ofthe graduated lines which may be of a violet or green color depending onthe color chosen for that range. Thus the rear sight when raised may beemployed to take care of any range between 100 or 600 yards or any otherdistance for which it is graduated. The rear sight is held in verticalposition by a bar 58 which connects the hinge lugs 32 of the rear sight.This bar is wedge shaped at its lower end as shown at 59 (see Figure 1)but otherwise presents a iiat surface 60. When the rear sight is swungfrom horizontal to vertical position bar 58 swings under the hinge lugI1 but as this is formed on the outer end of the spring leaf 22 (seeFigure 8) it will yield and permit the bar to pass under and to rest onits flat surface 60 when the rear sight assumes vertical position. Thusspring leaf 23 tends to retain the rear sight as a whole from movementabout screw 24 while the spring leaf 22 tends to hold the rear sight invertical position. The slot in the glass plate 3| and the slot 40separating the Lucite bars 4| and `42 are comparatively narrow. Slot 28on the other hand is wider as the graduations in the glass plate wouldotherwise be diflcult to see. However, it need only be slightly wider asthe plate 21 should extend over the graduations as far as possible toeliminate any extraneous light rays as on a moonlight night. In otherwords, the darker the upper surface of the glass plate, the greater thevisibility of the graduations as they are rendered visible by theactivated salts on the under or opposite side. The faces of the Lucitebars opposite the V shaped projections are, on the other hand, open andunshrouded when the rear sight assumes a vertical position and this isessential as the greater the amount of ultra violet rays admitted, thegreater will be visibility of the graduations. Activation by ultraviolet rays is not altogether essential as radio active salts of thecharacter employed on watch dials to render the numerals and the handsvisible in the dark may also be employed.

While this and other features of the invention have been more or lessspecifically described and illustrated, I nevertheless wish itunderstood that changes may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claims, and that the materials and finish of the various partsemployed may be varied as the experience or judgment of the manufacturermay dictate or varying conditions of use may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In a sight of the character described, a rear sight comprising anelongated base plate, means pivotally securing one end of the plate to agun barrel, said pivot permitting the opposite free end of the plate toswing laterally of the gun barrel, means frictionally retaining theplate against pivotal movement, a rear sight hingedly secured to thefree end of the plate and adapted to be swung from a position parallelto the base plate to an upright position at right angles to the same,there being a slot formed in the rear sight through which the frontsight of a gun barrel may be viewed, graduations formed on the rearsight on opposite sides of the slot to indicate different ranges, acoating of radio active salts applied to the graduations, and meansoperating to gather and project ultraviolet rays against said coating toactivate the radio active salts so as to render the graduations visible.

2. In a sight of the character described, a rear sight comprising anelongated base plate, means pivotally securing one end of the plate to agun barrel, said pivot permitting the opposite free end of the plate toswing laterally of the gun barrel, means frictionally retaining theplate against pivotal movement, a rear sight hingedly secured to thefree end of the plate and adapted to be swung from a position parallelto the base plate to an upright position at right angles to the same,said rear sight being in the form of a plate of substantially the samelength as the base plate and having a central slot formed therein andextending from end to end, a glass plate secured to one side of saidrear sight plate, said glass plate having graduation marks formed on oneface to indicate different ranges, a coating of radio active salts onthe opposite side of the glass plate, and means operating to gather andproject ultraviolet rays against the radio active salts t0 render themvisible through the graduation marks.

3. In a sight of the character described, a rear sight comprising anelongated base plate, means pivotally securing one end of the plate to agun barrel, said pivot permitting the opposite free end of the plate toswing laterally of the gun barrel, means frictionally retaining theplate against pivotal movement, a rear sight hingedly secured to thefree end of the plate and adapted to be swung from a position parallelto the base plate to an upright position at right angles to the same,said rear sight being in the form of a plate of substantially the samelength as the base plate and having a central slot formed thereinextending from end to end, a glass plate secured to one side of saidrear sight plate, said glass plate having graduation marks formed on oneface to indicate different ranges, a coating of radio active salts onthe opposite side of the glass plate, and a bar of transparent materialhaving a plurality of V-shaped projections formed on one side thereof,said projections substantially contacting with the radioactive saltcoated side of the glass plate and each V-shaped projection aligningwith a graduation, said bar and V-shaped projections operating so as togather and project ultraviolet rays against the radio active salts toactivate the same and render the graduations on the glass plate visible.

CLYDE B. FERREL.

